Inter Miami is the subject of a trademark lawsuit by Serie A giants Inter Milan.
The San Siro club, whose full name is Football Club Internazionale Milano, claim the term ‘Inter’ belongs to them, having trademarked it in the US in 2014, according to the Miami New Times.
And the US Patent and Trademark Office have backed the Italian club, believing Inter Milan have reached the ‘legal threshold’ to prove that Inter Miami – full name Club Internacional de Futbol Miami – could cause confusion with the San Siro club.
That’s despite multiple teams around the world using the term ‘Inter’ in a variety of variations.
Miami attorney David Winker wrote a report of the case on Law.com. The report read: “The USPTO found that MLS’ claim that there are a number of clubs around the world that use Inter in their name – SC Internacional of Porto Alegre, Brazil, Inter Nashville FC, Inter Atlanta FC, FC Inter Turku (Finland), NK Inter Zapresic (Croatia), Inter Leipzig (Germany) and Inter de Grand-Goave (Haiti) – did not meet its burden to show that MLS has valid proprietary, or ownership, right in the name, Inter.
“MLS has outlined a two-pronged argument in a notice of opposition filed last year against Internazionale’s application: that ‘Inter’ is a widely used shorthand in soccer and that a trademark on the term will cause a “likelihood of confusion” among the various teams that already use it.
“But last month, the patent office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board dismissed the “likelihood of confusion” claim and said the league didn’t meet those requirements.”
Whether Inter Miami will have to change its name remains unclear for now, but Inter Milan have won the first stage of the battle.
As things stand, at the very least, it looks unlikely The Herons will be able to refer to themselves simply as ‘Inter’.
